(l-r) Drs. Anne Hylander, Valeria Dal Zotto and Frida RosenblumSeveral members from the UAB Department of Pathology ran on October 11 in Equal Access Birmingham's (EAB) 10th Annual Heart + Sole 5K Run, promoting health and wellness in the Birmingham community. All proceeds from the fundraiser support EAB operations and the EAB Clinic to provide medications and medical services for patients. This year was the run's first time returning in person since before the pandemic.
EAB is a student-run free clinic that provides continuity of care to the medically underserved. The mission of EAB is two-fold:
- To serve the uninsured and underinsured in the greater Birmingham community; and
- To provide a meaningful, service-learning experience to augment medical education at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine.
EAB is supported by the Office of Undergraduate Medical Education of the UABKayla Jones (left) and LaRavian Atkinson Heersink School of Medicine. Through EAB, students engage in co-curricular service-learning experiences with the underserved and vulnerable populations of Birmingham, AL. EAB exposes medical students to clinical and socioeconomic factors that contribute to health disparities, training future doctors to provide quality care for all individuals while interacting with and learning from their community. Although EAB volunteers will travel on varied paths as physicians, they will always carry with them the skills, knowledge, and patient interactions they experienced with EAB.